RJ05 Reflective Journal Entry 5- Due Sunday, April 3, 2011
As I observe some of you teach, I see several clever uses of technology. How do you see information technology influencing your teaching? Have you used technology to engage, inform, or increase students research or critical thinking skills? How does it help? How does it hinder? Describe some ways that you have incorporated tech into your teaching, and how you see yourself using these tools when you have your own classroom.
Throughout my classes at URI we have been taught new and innovative ways to incorporate technology into our every day lessons. Through these ideas, I've been able to create my own uses for these technology tools in my every day classroom, allowing it to enhance my student's comprehension of then curriculum. I had the opportunity to teach in two placements (Coventry High School and Exeter-West Greenwich Junior High) where they have smartboards in every classroom. This was such an advantage to me because it opened up a whole realm of new possibilities that would not have been possible without this. During lectures, I use powerpoints to lead the discussion. This allows me to focus on discussing, rather than telling and writing what the students should know. I incorporate my powerpoints in a way that only shows the question, opens it up for discussion/finding the answer, and then we actually record the answer. This both gives the students an opportunity to pay more attention to the discussion part of the explaining process and allows students to interpret the information in their own way and relate it to other things.
Another thing I've utilized is laptops in the classroom. Just this week we did an interactive activity online in which the students needed to locate the epicenter of an earthquake. The assignment could have easily been done on a worksheet, but using the computers always sparks the student's interests and I feel that students end up retaining more (most of the time) when they are used. This, however, is only an advantage when the computers are used properly. Without using them properly students will have a difficult time completing the assignment, as they may have lapses in their understandings of both the material and directions.
Some other ways I've used technology is with the smartboard. At first, mastering the features of the smartboard was a little difficult and maybe even a little time consuming, but once learned I think this is probably the biggest asset in my classroom. With a webcam hooked up, we can put dittos on the smartboard and use it to solve problems, add notes, and even show something to the entire class that may have been hard to see can be blown up on the smartboard. Another activity I'm doing with the students is having them plot earthquakes individually, and then adding them to the smartboard giving is a large sample of data in a small amount of time. With this we can see any trends and draw conclusions based on why earthquakes occur in these areas.
So far I've seen that utilizing technology really contributes to my students learning, and when used properly can be an incredibly resourceful tool for learning. The most important part is to make sure that this technology is used properly and in a timely manner, because if not then it could end up taking longer for students to grasp these same concepts and may actually hinder their learning.
RJ05 Reflective Journal Entry 5- Due Sunday, April 3, 2011
As I observe some of you teach, I see several clever uses of technology. How do you see information technology influencing your teaching? Have you used technology to engage, inform, or increase students research or critical thinking skills? How does it help? How does it hinder? Describe some ways that you have incorporated tech into your teaching, and how you see yourself using these tools when you have your own classroom.
Throughout my classes at URI we have been taught new and innovative ways to incorporate technology into our every day lessons. Through these ideas, I've been able to create my own uses for these technology tools in my every day classroom, allowing it to enhance my student's comprehension of then curriculum. I had the opportunity to teach in two placements (Coventry High School and Exeter-West Greenwich Junior High) where they have smartboards in every classroom. This was such an advantage to me because it opened up a whole realm of new possibilities that would not have been possible without this. During lectures, I use powerpoints to lead the discussion. This allows me to focus on discussing, rather than telling and writing what the students should know. I incorporate my powerpoints in a way that only shows the question, opens it up for discussion/finding the answer, and then we actually record the answer. This both gives the students an opportunity to pay more attention to the discussion part of the explaining process and allows students to interpret the information in their own way and relate it to other things.
Another thing I've utilized is laptops in the classroom. Just this week we did an interactive activity online in which the students needed to locate the epicenter of an earthquake. The assignment could have easily been done on a worksheet, but using the computers always sparks the student's interests and I feel that students end up retaining more (most of the time) when they are used. This, however, is only an advantage when the computers are used properly. Without using them properly students will have a difficult time completing the assignment, as they may have lapses in their understandings of both the material and directions.
Some other ways I've used technology is with the smartboard. At first, mastering the features of the smartboard was a little difficult and maybe even a little time consuming, but once learned I think this is probably the biggest asset in my classroom. With a webcam hooked up, we can put dittos on the smartboard and use it to solve problems, add notes, and even show something to the entire class that may have been hard to see can be blown up on the smartboard. Another activity I'm doing with the students is having them plot earthquakes individually, and then adding them to the smartboard giving is a large sample of data in a small amount of time. With this we can see any trends and draw conclusions based on why earthquakes occur in these areas.
So far I've seen that utilizing technology really contributes to my students learning, and when used properly can be an incredibly resourceful tool for learning. The most important part is to make sure that this technology is used properly and in a timely manner, because if not then it could end up taking longer for students to grasp these same concepts and may actually hinder their learning.